El Lefty Malo

9.12.2006

How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere At All?

As suspected, the Giants have bumped Brad Hennessey back to the bullpen. Looks like the rotation down the stretch is Cain, Schmidt, Morris, Sanchez and Lowry.

It's not surprising. As the fifth starter, his job was to give the Giants a fighting chance to win. Since he replaced Jamey Wright, Hennessey hadn't been any better than Wright. Right now, Sanchez is a better option, and the Giants are short right-handed arms in the bullpen. Given Hennessey's success there this year, this is easily the best move for the team.

Sanchez is also much more the future of the Giants than Hennessey; consider this Sanchez's foot-wetting for 2007.

But the move, in addition to frustrating the hell out of Hennessey, who was one of the team's first-half MVPs, also begs the question: Where should Hennessey be in 2007?

Three possible answers come to mind:

1) The starting rotation. Unless Schmidt or another big-name free-agent signs this winter, the top four will be Morris, Cain, Lowry and probably Sanchez. Hennessey deserves a chance to be in the rotation all year.

2) The bullpen. He thrived as long man/spot starter. He also pitched quite well in shorter relief in July. Through the first four months his monthly ERAs were 2.79, 2.81, 2.03, and 2.12. In mid-August he went back into the rotation, starting five times but never looking comfortable.

3) On another team. The knock on Hennessey, that he doesn't strike out enough batters and thus needs to be "hit-lucky," means his trade value may never be higher. He's proven his worth and flexibility. He's fairly young (27 next February), cheap, and could be a solid back-of-rotation guy for years to come. He should fetch a decent return in a trade.

What's a Lefty Malo?

It's an ancient Mexican baseball insult. Eighteen
years ago, I was pitching for my high school team in a tournament in Guadalajara, and two borrachos down
the third-base line heckled me with the insult "Lefty Malo," a.k.a., Bad Lefty.